Simultaneous release of This Is It in 15 cities worldwide

This Is It, made using more than 100 hours of rehearsal footage recorded by Michael for the This Is It concerts, will be screened simultaneously in more than 15 cities on October 28, after the red carpet ceremony. The film’s public release will last for two weeks, and then it will be offered for sale on DVD.

Simultaneous Hollywood film releases are rare. New York, Rio de Janeiro, London, Berlin, Johannesburg, and Seoul are among the cities showing the film simultaneously. The film will not be screened simultaneously in Moscow, Tokyo, Sydney, or Paris. The names of other cities showing the film have not yet been announced. The This Is It screening in Los Angeles will be at 9:00 PM on October 27 at the Nokia Theatre, along with a red carpet event. The Los Angeles red carpet event will be broadcast via satellite. In other cities, screenings begin three hours after Los Angeles. The screening time in New York will be after midnight, and in London it will be 4:00 AM on October 28.

Sony Pictures obtained the right to make the film by paying $60 million. The film will be shown in more than 25 cities worldwide, but the release will not be simultaneous in all these regions.

Sony’s marketing head says Michael has an army of fans in every corner of the world, and a simultaneous release is an opportunity for everyone to celebrate Michael’s unbelievable artistry together.

Before his death, Michael was working on something he wanted to become the biggest stage show in history. The This Is It tour was scheduled to take place in London for 50 nights starting in July of this year. There were also rumors about turning these concerts into a worldwide tour. All 750,000 tickets for the 50 concerts sold out within just a few hours.

The commercial agreements reached after Michael’s death between his lawyers and other companies have added about $200 million to the value of Michael’s assets, which were already over $500 million. With the release of new items, the value of these assets is expected to go even higher.

Source: eMJey / Variety / AP